Visual Underpinnings of Body Aesthetics: A TMS Study

The 'Dual route model' for visual body processing suggests that occipital-lateral cortex and premotor cortex may have complementary influences on body perception. In particular, while the Extrastriate body area (EBA) may be involved in body form processing, premotor cortex (PMC) is necessary in body action processing. Here, we applied rTMS over bilateral EBA and PMC to investigate the neural mechanisms of esthetic of body perception. Female and male healthy volunteers were required to express VAS judgments of how much they liked virtual model bodies that varied either in body size and implied motion. After a 500-ms fixation cross, the stimuli were presented for 150 ms at the center of the screen and were followed by a mask for 500 ms and, finally, by the 100 mm VAS scale. Five 10 Hz rTMS pulses were delivered after 150 ms from stimulus onset. The analysis on the esthetic liking VAS revealed specific effects of EBAvs. dPMC-rTMS according to the size and posture of the bodies. While, rTMS over right EBA specifically decreased the liking judgments of fat models, stimulation of left EBA decreased the liking judgments of slim dynamic models. Importantly, only the left PMC, but not the left EBA, decreased the judgments of slim static bodies. Our results provide evidence of lateralization effects for the positive vs. negative evaluation of the body of conspecifics. Crucially, both EBA and PMC seem to play a complementary role in esthetic processing and their individual contributions influence the final esthetic judgment

Efficacy of facial exercises in facial expression categorization in schizophrenia

Embodied cognition theories suggest that observation of facial expression induces the same pattern of muscle activation, and that this contributes to emotion recognition. Consequently, the inability to form facial expressions would affect emotional understanding. Patients with schizophrenia show a reduced ability to express and perceive facial emotions. We assumed that a physical training specifically developed to mobilize facial muscles could improve the ability to perform facial movements, and, consequently, spontaneous mimicry and facial expression recognition. Twenty-four inpatient participants with schizophrenia were randomly assigned to the experimental and control group. At the beginning and at the end of the study, both groups were submitted to a facial expression categorization test and their data compared. The experimental group underwent a training period during which the lip muscles, and the muscles around the eyes were mobilized through the execution of transitive actions. Participants were trained three times a week for five weeks. Results showed a positive impact of the physical training in the recognition of others' facial emotions, specifically for the responses of "fear", the emotion for which the recognition deficit in the test is most severe. This evidence suggests that a specific deficit of the sensorimotor system may result in a specific cognitive deficit

Autofluorescence of Model Polyethylene Terephthalate Nanoplastics for Cell Interaction Studies

This work contributes to fill one of the gaps regarding nanoplastic interactions with biological systems by producing polyethylene terephthalate (PET) model nanoplastics, similar to those found in the marine environment, by means of a fast top-down approach based on mechanical fragmentation. Their size distribution and morphology were characterized by laser diffraction and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Their autofluorescence was studied by spectrofluorimetry and fluorescence imaging, being a key property for the evaluation of their interaction with biota. The emission spectra of label-free nanoplastics were comparable with those of PET nanoplastics labeled with Nile red. Finally, the suitability of label-free nanoplastics for biological studies was assessed by in vitro exposure with Mytilus galloprovincialis hemolymphatic cells in a time interval up to 6 h. The nanoplastic internalization into these cells, known to be provided with phagocytic activity, was assessed by fluorescence microscopy. The obtained results underlined that the autofluorescence of the model PET nanoplastics produced in the laboratory was adequate for biological studies having the potential to overcome the disadvantages commonly associated with several fluorescent dyes, such as the tendency to also stain other organic materials different from plastics, to form aggregates due to intermolecular interactions at high concentrations with a consequent decrease in fluorescence intensity, and to dye desorption from nanoparticles. The results of the autofluorescence study provide an innovative approach for plastic risk assessment

Enhancing methodological reporting in Public Administration: The functional equivalents framework

Public administration scholarship reflects a multidisciplinary field in which many theoretical perspectives coexist. However, one of the dark sides of such theoretical pluralism is methodological fragmentation. It may be hard to assess the research quality and to engage with the findings from studies employing different methodologies, thus limiting meaningful conversations. Moreover, the constant race across social sciences to make methodologies more sophisticated may exacerbate the separation between academic and practitioner audiences. In order to counterbalance these two trends, the paper aims at increasing methodological intelligibility in our field. It does so starting from the idea that each methodology entails choices in the conventional phases of research design, data collection and data analysis, and that these choices must be reported (...

The use of stoned olive cake and rolled linseed in the diet of intensively reared lambs: effect on the intramuscular fatty-acid composition.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of the inclusion of stoned olive cake and rolled linseed in a concentrate-based diet for lambs on the fatty-acid composition of polar and non-polar intramuscular lipids of the longissimus dorsi muscle. To achieve this objective, 32 Appenninica lambs were randomly distributed into four groups of eight lambs each and were fed conventional cereal-based concentrates (diet C); concentrates containing 20% on a dry matter (DM) basis of rolled linseed (diet L); concentrates containing 35% DM of stoned olive cake (diet OC); and concentrates containing both rolled linseed (10% DM) and stoned olive cake (17% DM; diet OCL). The concentrates were administered together with grass hay at a 20:80 forage:concentrate ratio. Growing performances and carcass traits were evaluated. The fatty-acid composition was analysed in the total intramuscular lipids, as well as in the polar and neutral lipids. The average feed intake and the growth performance of lambs were not affected by the dietary treatments, as a consequence of similar nutritional characteristics of the diets. The inclusion of rolled linseed in the L and OCL diets increased the content of C18:3 n-3 in intramuscular total lipids, which was threefold higher in meat from the L lambs and more than twofold higher in meat from the OCL lambs compared with the C and OC treatments. The n-6:n-3 ratio significantly decreased in the meat from lambs in the L and OCL groups, reaching values below 3. The L treatment resulted in the highest level of trans-18:1 fatty acids in the muscle. Regardless of the dietary treatment, the t10-18:1 was the major isomer, representing 55%, 45%, 49% and 45% of total trans-18:1 for C, L, OC and OCL treatments, respectively. Neutral lipids from the OC-fed lambs contained the highest amount of c9-18:1 (more than 36% of total fatty acids); however, the content of c9-18:1 did not differ between the OC and C lambs, suggesting an intensive biohydrogenation of dietary c9-18:1 in the case of OC treatment. The highest content of c9,t11-18:2 was detected in the intramuscular fat from the L-fed lambs, followed by the OCL treatment. A similar trend was observed in the neutral lipid fraction and, to a lower extent, in the polar lipids

The importance of perceptual experience in the esthetic appreciation of the body.

Several studies suggest that sociocultural models conveying extreme thinness as the widespread ideal of beauty exert an important influence on the perceptual and emotional representation of body image. The psychological mechanisms underlying such environmental influences, however, are unclear. Here, we utilized a perceptual adaptation paradigm to investigate how perceptual experience modulates body esthetic appreciation. We found that the liking judgments of round bodies increased or decreased after brief exposure to round or thin bodies, respectively. No change occurred in the liking judgments of thin bodies. The results suggest that perceptual experience may shape our esthetic appreciation to favor more familiar round body figures. Importantly, individuals with more deficits in interoceptive awareness were less prone to increase their liking ratings of round bodies after exposure, suggesting a specific risk factor for the susceptibility to the influence of the extreme thin vs. round body ideals of beauty portrayed by the media

Distinct contributions of extrastriate body area and temporoparietal junction in perceiving one's own and others' body.

The right temporoparietal cortex plays a critical role in body representation. Here, we applied repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) over right extrastriate body area (EBA) and temporoparietal junction (TPJ) to investigate their causative roles in perceptual representations of one's own and others' body. Healthy women adjusted size-distorted pictures of their own body or of the body of another person according to how they perceived the body (subjective task) or how others perceived it (intersubjective task). In keeping with previous reports, at baseline, we found an overall underestimation of body size. Crucially, EBA-rTMS increased the underestimation bias when participants adjusted the images according to how others perceived their own or the other woman's body, suggesting a specific role of EBA in allocentric body representations. Conversely, TPJ-rTMS increased the underestimation bias when participants adjusted the body of another person, either a familiar other or a close friend, in both subjective and intersubjective tasks, suggesting an involvement of TPJ in representing others' bodies. These effects were body-specific, since no TMS-induced modulation was observed when participants judged a familiar object. The results suggest that right EBA and TPJ play active and complementary roles in the complex interaction between the perceptions of one's own and other people's body

Molecularly Imprinted Polymers: Present and Future Prospective

Molecular Imprinting Technology (MIT) is a technique to design artificial receptors with a predetermined selectivity and specificity for a given analyte, which can be used as ideal materials in various application fields. Molecularly Imprinted Polymers (MIPs), the polymeric matrices obtained using the imprinting technology, are robust molecular recognition elements able to mimic natural recognition entities, such as antibodies and biological receptors, useful to separate and analyze complicated samples such as biological fluids and environmental samples. The scope of this review is to provide a general overview on MIPs field discussing first general aspects in MIP preparation and then dealing with various application aspects. This review aims to outline the molecularly imprinted process and present a summary of principal application fields of molecularly imprinted polymers, focusing on chemical sensing, separation science, drug delivery and catalysis. Some significant aspects about preparation and application of the molecular imprinting polymers with examples taken from the recent literature will be discussed. Theoretical and experimental parameters for MIPs design in terms of the interaction between template and polymer functionalities will be considered and synthesis methods for the improvement of MIP recognition properties will also be presented

Impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular testing in the United States versus the rest of the world

Objectives: This study sought to quantify and compare the decline in volumes of cardiovascular procedures between the United States and non-US institutions during the early phase of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the care of many non-COVID-19 illnesses. Reductions in diagnostic cardiovascular testing around the world have led to concerns over the implications of reduced testing for cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. Methods: Data were submitted to the INCAPS-COVID (International Atomic Energy Agency Non-Invasive Cardiology Protocols Study of COVID-19), a multinational registry comprising 909 institutions in 108 countries (including 155 facilities in 40 U.S. states), assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on volumes of diagnostic cardiovascular procedures. Data were obtained for April 2020 and compared with volumes of baseline procedures from March 2019. We compared laboratory characteristics, practices, and procedure volumes between U.S. and non-U.S. facilities and between U.S. geographic regions and identified factors associated with volume reduction in the United States. Results: Reductions in the volumes of procedures in the United States were similar to those in non-U.S. facilities (68% vs. 63%, respectively; p = 0.237), although U.S. facilities reported greater reductions in invasive coronary angiography (69% vs. 53%, respectively; p < 0.001). Significantly more U.S. facilities reported increased use of telehealth and patient screening measures than non-U.S. facilities, such as temperature checks, symptom screenings, and COVID-19 testing. Reductions in volumes of procedures differed between U.S. regions, with larger declines observed in the Northeast (76%) and Midwest (74%) than in the South (62%) and West (44%). Prevalence of COVID-19, staff redeployments, outpatient centers, and urban centers were associated with greater reductions in volume in U.S. facilities in a multivariable analysis. Conclusions: We observed marked reductions in U.S. cardiovascular testing in the early phase of the pandemic and significant variability between U.S. regions. The association between reductions of volumes and COVID-19 prevalence in the United States highlighted the need for proactive efforts to maintain access to cardiovascular testing in areas most affected by outbreaks of COVID-19 infection

Canagliflozin and renal outcomes in type 2 diabetes and nephropathy

BACKGROUND Type 2 diabetes mellitus is the leading cause of kidney failure worldwide, but few effective long-term treatments are available. In cardiovascular trials of inhibitors of sodium–glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2), exploratory results have suggested that such drugs may improve renal outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes. METHODS In this double-blind, randomized trial, we assigned patients with type 2 diabetes and albuminuric chronic kidney disease to receive canagliflozin, an oral SGLT2 inhibitor, at a dose of 100 mg daily or placebo. All the patients had an estimated glomerular filtration rate (GFR) of 30 to &lt;90 ml per minute per 1.73 m2 of body-surface area and albuminuria (ratio of albumin [mg] to creatinine [g], &gt;300 to 5000) and were treated with renin–angiotensin system blockade. The primary outcome was a composite of end-stage kidney disease (dialysis, transplantation, or a sustained estimated GFR of &lt;15 ml per minute per 1.73 m2), a doubling of the serum creatinine level, or death from renal or cardiovascular causes. Prespecified secondary outcomes were tested hierarchically. RESULTS The trial was stopped early after a planned interim analysis on the recommendation of the data and safety monitoring committee. At that time, 4401 patients had undergone randomization, with a median follow-up of 2.62 years. The relative risk of the primary outcome was 30% lower in the canagliflozin group than in the placebo group, with event rates of 43.2 and 61.2 per 1000 patient-years, respectively (hazard ratio, 0.70; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.59 to 0.82; P=0.00001). The relative risk of the renal-specific composite of end-stage kidney disease, a doubling of the creatinine level, or death from renal causes was lower by 34% (hazard ratio, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.53 to 0.81; P&lt;0.001), and the relative risk of end-stage kidney disease was lower by 32% (hazard ratio, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.54 to 0.86; P=0.002). The canagliflozin group also had a lower risk of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, or stroke (hazard ratio, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.67 to 0.95; P=0.01) and hospitalization for heart failure (hazard ratio, 0.61; 95% CI, 0.47 to 0.80; P&lt;0.001). There were no significant differences in rates of amputation or fracture. CONCLUSIONS In patients with type 2 diabetes and kidney disease, the risk of kidney failure and cardiovascular events was lower in the canagliflozin group than in the placebo group at a median follow-up of 2.62 years